CYIL vol. 16 (2025)

MAREK ZUKAL Following a series of negotiations, the co-facilitators presented a revised proposal that was co-sponsored by 92 States. The proposal included the possibility of a third session of the Conference in 2027, if necessary, in an attempt to reach a compromise. The Preparatory Committee meeting was to be split into two sessions, convening in February and April 2026. The Conference’s deliberations were to be based not only on the ILC draft (DAPPED), but also on a consolidated text containing all the draft proposals submitted by States. Russia broke the silence procedure on this proposal. This eventually prompted the co-facilitators to draft an additional revised version, which was ultimately adopted by consensus. The final version of the resolution 10 does not contain a decision to convene a conference, as many States had originally intended. Instead, it contains a decision to produce a legally binding document by the end of 2027. The modalities and deadlines should be determined during the 80 th session of the General Assembly. The Preparatory Committee meeting was replaced by a resumed session of the Sixth Committee in April 2026 (in Working Group format), with the aim of preparing a consolidated draft text to serve as a basis for further negotiations. Progress was thus made towards negotiating a convention on the basis of DAPPED, although the decision on the form of negotiations (in particular whether they would be conducted through a diplomatic conference) was postponed until the following year. Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its 75 th session As it does every year, the International Law Commission submitted a comprehensive report 11 on its activities to the Sixth Committee. It covers the various topics on which the Commission has been working, including, among others, the topic Succession of States in respect of responsibility, the continuation of work on the topic Sea-level rise in relation to international law, the second reading of the Draft Articles on Immunities of State officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction, and Non-legally binding agreements in international law. The ILC has added two new topics to its long-term programme of work: Compensation for internationally wrongful acts and Due diligence in international law. While the former falls within the mandate of the ILC as defined in its Statute, the latter, like many topics discussed by the Commission, raises legitimate questions about whether the Commission will be fulfilling its mandate by working on it (i.e. preparing codification and progressive development of international law rather than producing academic studies and developing the science of international law). In addition to the Czech Republic, the inclusion of the first topic was positively welcomed by Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Portugal, Vietnam and Korea (on the other hand, the delegation of the United States expressed skepticism as to whether there was sufficient State practice on the topic). The latter topic received a similar response, with critics of its inclusion being joined by Russia, who argued that the concept of due diligence is an institution of common law systems that cannot be transferred to the civil law system, and Iran, who criticized the excessive breadth of the topic.

10 Resolution of the General Assembly A/RES/79/128, adopted on 4 December 2024. Available here: https://docs. un.org/en/A/RES/79/128. 11 Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its seventy-fifth session. 2024. UN Doc. A/79/10. Available here: https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/g24/141/48/pdf/g2414148.pdf.

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